Click images for desktop size: "Chorus Line" by Unknown If you're lucky, as a coach, you're going to run into athletes who have more talent as players then you do as a coach.
They're the kind of players where you just hope you don't mess them up, that you don't inflict something on them that will delay or derail their shot at greatness and being special.
I've been lucky. I've had so many players like that. Maybe I'm just not that good a coach. Or maybe being a good coach is sometimes just letting the kids run and play making sure that they don't do anything to hurt themselves or others.
One of those kids was a little running back I coached in West Texas. He was unbelievable. He had speed, power and a desire to compete that was far above anything I ever possessed as a player.
He was always asking for advice. I couldn't even tell him to run faster. He timed out faster than any player I'd ever seen. No matter what platitudes I spouted he always came back and asked for more advice. After at 83 yard TD run that had my jaw dropping (broke two tackles on the line and three more downfield) he came to the sideline and asked how he could have done that better . . .
I think the "advice" I gave him was pretty stupid and got reduced to, "Don't drink. Get plenty of sleep. Don't eat at McDonald's." (I hate McDonald's, the food and the concept.)

Click images for desktop size: "Hulk" by Mike H and Marvel Comics All the kids were usually worried about me. Why I worked a cruddy job but refused to be paid for coaching. I wouldn't discuss it with kids. They have enough to worry about without my weirdo baggage floating in their brains. As I couldn't drive (I couldn't have afforded a car then even if I could see well enough to drive) this kid volunteered his dad to pick me up for practices and to get me to the team bus for games.
We'd talk in the car. He asked me, as they usually did, about how it was to play in a big time college team. How did I do it?
Instead of my stock answer I told him the truth. That in high school I was all state because I played with a violent rage. I was loaded with rage. The rage that got me my full ride also nearly got me kicked off the team.
I told him about my coach who took the time to talk to me and to listen to me. He got me to drop the rage and to appreciate the beauty of the game. He changed my life dramatically. Then I started to play better. I played with a love for the game, to appreciate the beauty and the precision.
Then the conversation just fell into my standard rhetoric about teammates, community etc. Rhetoric because I believe it so intensely.
When the college scouts and coaches showed up it was pretty overwhelming for a kid from West Texas. Even a kid with NFL potential and poor parents doesn't have enough ambition to cope with the offers the promises and the lies of the recruitment process. I helped with what I could. I offered no opinions, just guidance and the ability to be stoic and deflect some of the more obnoxious recruiters.
As usual I boringly insisted on education as a priority.
Finally my kid decided on Texas Tech. I had no opinion other than happiness that he was going to get a college degree and have a future. Maybe in the NFL but with a degree from a good school I knew he'd be able to make his dreams for himself and his family come true.
He's a red shirt junior this year.
I watched the game last night on TV. I was totally stoked just seeing him on TV on the sidelines. I was proud of him.
I was stunned when he got in the game at wide receiver then flabbergasted and overjoyed when he
Click images for desktop size: "Beauty Parlour" by Charles M Russell caught a couple balls! He ended up being the leading receiver for the Red Raiders. He kept catching important balls and the announcers didn't even know his name!
He was in the New York Times today. They only talked about the one pass that he made a brilliant dive for but couldn't bring in. But he was there. He played. He was a vital part of the biggest game of the week.
My friend said it was the most fun football game I'd ever made her watch. And my kid was a part of that.
I'm proud of him that he held on, that he played and had fun.
I love college football where one player can stand up and turn a game into something it wasn't intended to be.

The Phillies won the least memorable World Series in my lifetime and I went 9-5 on my picks last week.
My friend gets upset that I did not mention that her inane method of picking teams led her to a miserable score of 8-6.
Pathetic.
I merely don't need to point out my grave superiority in finally picking one more right than she did.
As usual my picks are in bold.

Detroit at Chicago - Here's a cruddy game to start things off. The Lions have a legitimate shot at not winning a game this season. As much as I like the Lions talent, at least until they inexplicably traded away Roy Williams for close to nothing, they show the main problem with the NFL. All NFL owners are rich white guys. Black coaches were banned from the NFL for a long time because NFL teams were successful enough but were still mainly rich white guy toys. Rich white guys wanted to hang out with their staff. Winning wasn't as important as having a cool golf buddy or lunch pal. More money thankfully changed that. Too much money, anti-trust exemptions etc. But there's still that part of rich guys that makes them want to hang out. How else to explain Matt Millen, a great player and just a great guy and demonstrably the worst executive in the entire history of football and he kept the job for nearly a decade!! And NEVER won more than 8 games in a season! But he was cool and everybody liked him and he had great stories. So the Lions have become the most dismal team in the NFL for the last decade and for at least a few years to come. The Bears are the perfect example of a family owned business. They stink one week, look great the next, look great for a while and then still lose and are generally all over the place. Rewarding mediocre performances and trying to stiff their stars while trying to keep the business going as cheaply as possible. This is how the NFL started. They
Click images for desktop size: "El Rancho Motel" by Tim Melideo should win pretty easily today but I wouldn't be surprised to see them let the Lions do better than they should.

New York Jets at Buffalo - Both of these teams looked gawd awful last week. Still the Bills look like one of the classier teams in the AFC. The Jets defense is looking pretty shabby right now and Favre just looked old last week, like his body was finally playing older than his mind. Sad, really. This should be a pretty competitive match because Favre usually was able to respond to sub-par performances by playing lights out. The Bills D will harass him and Favre will make a couple of those mind blasting plays that only he can but eventually the Bills front 7 will bury him. The Bills O is solid and sometimes very good if seldom spectacular. That will be enough today I would think.

Jacksonville at Cincinnati - The poor Bengals. Carson Palmer out for the season and and and. I give them credit, they've played hard and still looked pathetic. I also note that there's been little finger pointing or blame passed around. The Jaguars are the big enigma team. How can they have so much talent and still stink? This will be a game that will pump up their stats and keep us thinking that the Jag's are a better team then they really are.

Baltimore at Cleveland - A game of the week contender. Not because they are two great teams but because both teams are playing at about the same level. They can appear devastating and brilliant, especially the Ravens on D, while the Browns can muster it up to play like killers. I'd expect this to be a back and forth game. I trust Derek Anderson and home field advantage just a bit more than I trust rather brilliant rookie Joe Flacco.

Tampa Bay at Kansas City - The Buc's looked pretty dismal last week. The Chiefs are dismal. Herm Edwards a very good coach made a tremendous mistake in the way he dumped the Jets, even if he had good reasons. I'm very disappointed in Larry Johnson. That he deserves his suspension for spitting a drink in a woman's face is unquestionable. That this great kid I met when he was playing high school ball would get himself into that sort of situation. I can't understand the pressure of being a pro. It must be pretty great to get a damn good kid
Click image: "Surf" by Unknown into that sort of embarrassing situation. The Chiefs will likely get shut out today. The Buccaneers O doesn't look good enough to blow them out but should still beat them handily.

Houston at Minnesota - This is the cruddy game of the week. It has cruddy written all over it. The big point of interest is whether Adrian Petersen can get over 200 yards! The Texan's O has looked a bit sharper lately but the Viking's D, at home, should nullify that enough for Adrian to make the difference.

Arizona at St Louis - The Cardinals have looked pretty dismal on the road so far but they are playing decent football. They don't get exposed they just keep making critical errors at all the wrong times. The Rams are resurgent and should make a game of this. Steve Jackson is insisting on playing even through an injury. That's inspirational but kind of stupid. I don't think the Rams can stop the Cardinals O juggernaught. They're in a better position to win a shootout. Their defense can give Bolder fits and that should make the difference.


Click images for desktop size: "Pirate Girl" by Unknown Green Bay at Tennessee - After that massive win last week the Titans are due for a let down. The Packers are desperate and they are in a better position to knock off the Titans then the Colts were. Still I have to pick the Titans. You don't go against an undefeated tea. Game of the week runner-up!

Miami at Denver - If this game were at a neutral I'd pick the Dolphins in a blink. But Mile High is miserable for visiting teams. There's no way for an athlete from out of town to acclimate to playing in that rarefied air. After about half an hour of exertion its almost impossible to breathe. When you reach deep in the tank in the fourth quarter most of the time there is nothing there. The Bronco's are not a good team this year. The Dolphins will keep it close but the 4th qtr will bring the Broncos back and people will still talk about them like they're good. (Jay Cutler IS good!)

Dallas at New York Giants - Before Tony Romo went down, before Pacman Jones got busted again, before TO started mouthing off again this would have been a pretty highly anticipated game. Now the thing is to see if Brad Johnson is limber enough not to get broken in half. This is not going to be fun or pretty, unless you hate the Cowboys.

Atlanta at Oakland - Another Super Rookie in Falcon's QB, Matt Ryan, should have enough to destroy Oakland. I think McAllister will punch up some serious yardage against a decent Falcon's D but Raiders QB Russell will be be destroyed when he isn't self destructing. Watching the Falcons on the road is the only point of interest here.

Philadelphia at Seattle - The Eagles have to be laughing here. The Seahawks won one last week against a whacko 49ers squad. They're not that good. The Eagles will destroy them.

Pittsburgh at Washington - The Steelers D will remind the Redskins of the opening week of the season when they looked hapless. Rothlisberger should have a decent game to make up for the debacle of last week. I still think the NFC East is not that good. It only looks that way because the rest of the NFC pretty much stinks.

New England 22 Indianapolis 21 - This was the best game of the year for the past 5 years. An injury to Tom Brady, the end of Rodney Harrison's career and two knee operations for Peyton Manning have made this something else. The Colts are out of the play off picture. The Patriots are skyving around trying to find an identity. They play proud. The Colts are expecting Bob Sanders back on D and Joseph Addai back in the running game after lengthy injuries. Its hard to get people back into the groove when they've been out that long, so they'll help but not enough. This is my game of the week, no just in memorium to two great teams but because watching people play with fire and pride is more entertaining than watching two great heavy weights slug it out. I'm picking New England for no good reason at all. I have no idea who will win.

So that's it for this week. Paying attention to these picks might get you committed but will certainly make Las Vegas bookies happy . . . for entertainment only . . . that means its okay to laugh.